PRP Injections: An Effective Ortho Treatment Option [Video]

Medically Reviewed by W. Nathaniel Gasque, MD

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is used to treat a wide variety of patients who experience sports and other orthopedic injuries. Dr. Nathan Gasque, a sports medicine physician with McLeod Seacoast Orthopaedics, explains how PRP works and what kind of outcomes patients can expect.

What is a PRP injection?

A PRP injection is specifically platelet rich plasma, and that is under the umbrella term of orthobiologic, or more specifically, a blood-derived therapy. And what we do is take your own blood and use that to try to facilitate healing. We take a concentrate of your blood, we spin it down in a centrifuge, and we obtain a high ratio of platelets, plasma, and on occasion, leukocytes (white blood cells) as well. These products help either produce (or they already have) proteins, growth factors, cytokines, and other products that help facilitate healing in your body for various orthopedic injuries – whether that means tears, tendinopathies (conditions that cause pain and …